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FEBRUARY 2013
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
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The Funeral Director’s
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24/7 Personalized Service
Carriage Services Expands with
acquisitions in Three States
HOUSTON,TX—
Carriage
Services
has recently ex-
panded with locations in
North Carolina, Oklaho-
ma, and Texas.
Cumby Family Funer-
al Service
is a prominent
business with two roof-
tops in High Point and
Archdale, NC. Found-
ed in 1948 by
Wade
and
Edith Cumby
, the busi-
ness has grown to serve
almost 700 families under
the stewardship of
James
Gary Finch is a licensed funeral director and embalmer in Texas.
He founded Compliance Plus in 1992. Today, they represent over
700 funeral homes and cemeteries in 37 states. Compliance Plus
also serves as an advisory consultant for the International Order of
information on Compliance Plus visit
ontact Gary by phone at (800) 950-
1101 or by e-mail at gfinch@kisscompliance.net.
By Gary Finch
OSHA
Compliance
New Hazard Communication
with GHS is Changing
the Game
Nearly all OSHA Standards to date are performance
based. It is the employer that determines the extent of
PPE that must be worn, the kind of equipment that is
required, and the type of training that is sufficient. In a
real world setting, this gave small employers a break. In
the newly modified Hazard Communication Standard
that featured Globally Harmonized System of Classifying
Chemicals, it is not performance based. The differences
for small employers are substantial. The unions won.
The old system that was last revisited in 2004 featured
a performance-oriented standard that provided guidance
for defining hazards and for performing hazard determina-
tions. The current standard does not specify an approach
or format to follow. The Globally Harmonized System of
Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) have cer-
tain aspects that are performance-oriented, but the key
provisions are a uniformity-oriented approach for the
classification and presentation, through labeling and safe-
ty data sheets, of hazard information.
The simple fact is funeral homes have never worked with
uniformity-oriented regulations. It’s doubtful you will learn
how from reading an article. It raises the stakes and makes
compliance more difficult. The good news is that OSHA
will delay issuing citations and penalties for non-compli-
ance until 2016. This is well and good. As I look at the dis-
tinctions, it will take a few years to get comfortable with the
new requirements. The side by side changes between the
old and the revised standard are plenty. Here are just a few.
On name changes, the term “hazard determination” has
been changed to “hazard classification” and “material safe-
ty data sheet” has been changed to “safety data sheet.”
These definitions have been added: Classification, Haz-
ard category, Hazard class, Hazard not otherwise clas-
sified, Hazard statement, Label elements, Pictogram,
Precautionary statement, Product identifier, Pyrophoric
Gas, Safety data sheet, Signal word, Simple asphyxiant,
and Substance. These have been deleted: Combustible
liquid, Compressed gas, Explosive, Flammable, Flash-
point, Hazard warning, Identity, Material safety data
sheet, Organic peroxide, Oxidizer, Pyrophoric, Unstable
(reactive), and Water-reactive. The following definitions
have been revised: Chemical, Chemical name, Hazard-
ous chemical, Health hazard, Label, Mixture, Physical
hazard, and Trade secret.
It will not be enough for funeral homes to lean on a
consultant to do the work on this revised standard. Over
the next few years, safety officers must learn the standard
and the new classifications. They must be able to identi-
fy hazards to employees in a GHS manner. One break is
that the actual classifying is done by the up-stream man-
ufacturer and distributor. My intent is to teach down-
stream workers to understand, read, and think in a GHS
manner.
This work, for my customers and for others, is best start-
ed now. New training on new Safety Data Sheets, picto-
grams, signal words, and GHS classifications is required
by December 1, 2013. Down-stream employers have an
easier task than manufacturers and distributors. There are
no breaks for small employers in the revised standard.
Alan Creedy publishes Funeral Cliff
Calculator
RALEIGH,NC—
Alan Creedy
recently an-
nounced that he has made available a new
calculator to help funeral homes deter-
mine when to expect current downward
trends to become critical at the local level.
The Funeral Cliff Calculator is available
free to subscribers on his website www.al-
Mr. Creedy says “With all the noise late-
ly about the American Government’s im-
pending Fiscal Cliff I thought it was ap-
propriate to update my forecast relative
to the funeral profession’s own fiscal cliff.
With trends continuing to spiral down-
ward it is simply a matter of applying the
math to determine when the nexus point
for profits reaches zero and heads into the
negative…”
Mr. Creedy realized that in the process
of developing the forecast he could offer a
free calculator online that would let prac-
titioners see how urgent the matter really
is for their firm.
Alan Creedy has been a leader, funer-
al home consultant, author and speak-
er in the Death Care Industries for more
than 32 years. He publishes two weekly
newsletters,
The Creedy Commentary
and
The Creedy Roundup
. You can learn more
about Alan at his websit
org where you can subscribe to his com-
mentary for free.
Cumby
and his sons,
An-
drew
and
Michael
. This
showcase business will
serve as a springboard
into a growing regional
market. Former owners
James, Andrew, and Mi-
chael, will all be staying
on with the business.
Crespo & Jirrels Fu-
neral and Cremation
Services
of Baytown, TX
was founded in 1987 by
its original owners, the
Krizak
family, ultimately
changing hands in 2001
under the ownership of
Anthony
and
Made-
leine Crespo
. The busi-
ness serves over 200 fami-
lies per year and continues
an expansion of Carriage’s
footprint in this section of
Harris County. Anthony
has been named the busi-
ness’s Managing Partner
while Madeleine will con-
tinue on with the busi-
ness in a consulting ca-
pacity.
Melvin C. Payne
,
Chairman and CEO of
Carriage, stated, “With
our
Sterling-White
busi-
ness located less than five
miles away, the acquisi-
tion of Crespo & Jirrels
will help strengthen our
competitive position in
this growing market, and
allow Carriage to contin-
ue to deliver upon its goal
of partnering with the fin-
est independent operators
in the industry.”
Havenbrook Funeral
Home
, Norman, OK, is
the leading funeral ser-
vice business serving over
320 client families an-
nually. Havenbrook will
operate in tandem with
Moore Funeral and Cre-
mation
, another Car-
riage business operating
in the south Oklahoma
City market. The
Vice
family assumed owner-
ship of the funeral home
in 2010 and initiated
a complete renovation.
Chad Vice
, along with
wife
Jennifer
, brother
Shane
, and their moth-
er
Barbra
will all remain
involved in the business.
Carriage is extremely ex-
cited about their recent
affiliation with Haven-
brook Funeral Home and
the Vice family.
Carriage Services is a
leading provider of death
care services operating
167 funeral homes in 26
states, and 33 cemeteries
in 12 states.
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